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It is no surprise that many businesses and their brands struggle to achieve the same level of organic reach and engagement as they used to a few years ago. The customers are changing, their wants and needs are changing, the algorithms are changing, and it is a never-ending cycle of change. Social media platforms are forcibly pushing businesses to adapt and stay agile in order to effectively execute their social media marketing strategies.
Social media marketing is about much more than pushing content to keep the shine on your business. Organizations must go above and beyond to showcase their brand in an authentic and engaging way. Organic reach is increasingly difficult to achieve because of algorithm changes, especially when it comes to engagement.
This is exactly why organic growth cannot happen overnight. Change may seem as simple as a post going viral but what happens when the hype passes? How will you keep people engaged? Whenever and however you decide to take on your social media marketing campaigns it will take time. But if you use that time effectively you can organically engage potential customers and create some of the most loyal ones you have ever had.
In this article, we will cover 5 ways to increase organic reach & engagement on social media to help your business reach new levels of success, growth, and ROI on your social media marketing campaigns.
1. Understanding Social Media Algorithms
To make sure you are getting the most out of each social media network, you have to learn about every aspect of it and ensure you have a good understanding of how each platform’s algorithm works. Now that being said, social media algorithms evolve and you must stay on top of these algorithmic changes. Below is what has currently been going on in terms of algorithm changes and adaptations in 2022 but we are sure 2023 will throw us all a nice curve ball.
For example, when a video is uploaded, TikTok shows it to a small number of TikTok users in between popular videos. This way, the user doesn’t get bored. The algorithm then measures how much of your video is actually watched, as well as how many likes, comments, shares, and downloads it receives. It seems that the ratio is 1 like(s) for every 10 views in order to trigger the algorithm to show the video to more people.
The algorithm is triggered by the velocity of the engagement it receives. In other words, if it suddenly receives 20% more likes in a single day, then the video will be pushed out to more people. Users have reported that their video views seem to come in waves as a result of these triggers.
TikTok has over a billion users, which means that the possibility of your video being seen by a lot of people, or even going viral in some small way, is increased. Now TikTok’s biggest rival YouTube Shorts has an entirely different algorithm approach. Regardless of the channel or number of videos, every Youtube Short has a chance to succeed. Whether people watch a YouTube Short or skip it is determinative of its performance.
Facebook’s algorithm was updated to place a greater emphasis on content from friends and family, making it harder for brands to get their posts seen. The change was made to help promote content that encourages ‘meaningful interactions’ from users.
Meaningful interactions include things such as comments and shares, these are thought to be more active and meaningful in comparison to likes as they require more action from the user. Comments have been listed as the top ranking factors in Facebook’s new algorithm, therefore you should be prioritizing content that will spark conversations amongst your audience.
Engagement once again plays a big part in why posts are displayed here. The more engagement a post receives the higher the chance of it appearing in your followers’ ranked tweets, therefore the wider the organic reach of the post.
Similar to Facebook, Instagram has moved away from the chronological feed and puts a large focus on engagement. Posts that receive a high level of engagement are perceived to be of higher quality and therefore are rewarded.
Engagement comes out on top; the more engagement a post receives, the higher chance of it appearing in your followers’ news feeds and the higher the level of organic reach.
2. Quality over Quantity
First of all, to get this right you need to get to know your target audience, I mean really get to know who they are, what they are interested in, and what solutions they are looking for, essentially you are looking into in-depth demographics to make sure you are genuinely providing content that truly speaks to your social media users.
The principle behind this is that since you have posted amazing content that your previous audience engaged with, the algorithm will look at your page content more favorably because it knows that you're already driving significant engagement. Therefore, your posts with links will ideally be granted the same reach benefits.
Your focus should be on producing high-quality, relevant content that your followers and audience will be interested in and want to engage with. Fewer, higher-quality posts, cool images, videos, and interactive elements such as polls are far more impactful when looking to increase your organic reach in comparison to lower-quality posts.
3. Short Videos, Live Videos & Podcasts
The importance of incorporating both short and live videos as well as audio elements into your social media marketing strategy immensely impacts engagement. People rather watch videos and listen to podcasts, it is a more popular form of content for a user to consume.
Not to bring up the pandemic but it has greatly affected how people all are watching and engaging with social media and videos, live streams, and podcast consumption really took off.
The easiest way to dive into videos is by going live. Live-streaming creates a sense of urgency. Using tools like Periscope, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Broadcast Me can make the process of creating high-quality videos for your posts easier.
Take into consideration TikTok and how it took over social media and how users are still going crazy for it. Enter YouTube Shorts which streams everything from a TikTok to a Facebook live. It has skyrocketed its way into our lives because of this short video platform that streams everything for its colossal following.
First podcasts should be filmed, you can live stream your podcast, as well as post it on your social media platforms for video content. Another added element is audio, there is a growing demographic that wants to listen and only listen for information.
Audio content is becoming a popular way to connect with audiences who don't necessarily want to watch a video or read the content. It will attract customers who are seeking to learn about, products, services, and software and find solutions in a decompressing manner.
It is just the sound of voices feeding a potential customer with information. Regardless of what you are selling, be sure to incorporate this into your social media marketing campaign because we will see a big rise in this trend in 2023.
4. Influencers Influence Organic Reach
Working with industry influencers is a very effective way to organically grow and engage your social media target audience. It is the best word-of-mouth on social media. Your offerings will be front-and-center of an influencer’s loyal followers to uncover.
If you have never worked with an influencer, you can do something simple like sharing the influencer's content and tagging them on your social media platform. Or if it is in your budget, pay them or create some type of incentive for them to speak or promote your offerings.
To do this well you need to do your research. You need to know who your audience is following and who they trust as an influencer. You also want to make sure the influencer's values and tone match that of your business. Micro-influencers are great for niche-specific brands and correlate well with B2B organizations, just make sure any influencer that you want to work with can bring value to your business.
5. Be Consistent
You have heard this before “consistency is key” the reason why is because it is true, and in social media marketing it is no different…well maybe a little, When we say consistency is key this revolves around your branding (not how much you content post) including your content and writing style, imagery and video styling because this all affects your branding (brand awareness, brand recognition, brand authority, brand trust).
Ask yourself do your social media channels/platforms reflect your brand? Essentially this all affects your brand awareness and brand recognition and this is what truly makes an impact on your organic reach and engagement. This all comes down to the details that make your brand visually unique and recognizable.
In Conclusion
Reaching your goal of increasing organic reach and engagement can seem like a dim light at the end of a long tunnel. But if you take the time to plan your social media marketing strategies accordingly and use some of these techniques and tactics you will be pleasantly surprised by the successful outcome at the end of a well-planned social media marketing campaign.
